Africa Health Budget Network (AHBN) coordinator Dr. Aminu Magashi Garba, announced a commitment of One Million Naira (N1million) as a take-off grant for the Emergency and Health Hazards Trust Fund for health journalists.
The organisation has paid the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira only (N 250,000) to the Association of Nigeria Health Journalists (ANHEJ)’s dedicated bank account for this trust fund to support health journalists in the line of duties with respect to emergency and health hazards.
Magashi, who spoke at the AHNeJ congress meeting in Abuja, said the welfare and well-being of journalists should not be taken for granted, while expressing AHBN’s commitment to changing the narrative and the perception of journalists.
He said: “Everyone often takes the journalist for granted, we don’t even want to know what they are going through when they are invited to come and provide coverage of our events for dissemination to the public. We often look down on them, which was why some organisers of events would even shout at a journalist who is late to the event, while not bothering what could be the reason.
“At AHBN, we felt that it is time to change the narrative and the perception of our journalist and we believe that their welfare and well-being should not be taken for granted.
Magashi explain that the fund is designed to support member of AHNej who may have health or hazards challenges while carrying out their job.A
On his part, NHeJ’s President, Joseph Kadiri, promised that transparency and accountability would be strictly adhered to in the management of the fund.
The fund is expected to cover emergency problems such as physical injuries, mental injuries, assault, theft, and flooding.
